John paxton petty



l. P. PETTY.

SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM. nnlcnlo'n man nzc.\2. 191.3.

Patented May 13, 1919.

l2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 2 J. P. PETTY.

SHEET FEEDING mEcHANlsm.

' APPLICATION FILED DEC. I2. |916. 1,303,592.

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JOHN rAxToii PETTY', oF onowTHoRNE, ENGLANQ.

SHEET-FEEDING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May "13, 1919.

Application filed December 12, 1916. Serial No. 136,581.

To all whom t may concern: l

Be it known that I, Jol-IN PAx'roN PETTY, a subject of His Majesty King George V, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and llreland and of the British Dominicus beyondthe Sea and Emperor Aof India, resid- Amg at Crowtherne, Berkshire, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Feeding Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention is for automatically feeding paper sheets and the like flat articles `(hereinafter termed sheets) to machines.

F or this purpose I adoptvmeans by which the upper sheets of a pile are successively freed and bodily floated upwardly to directly or/and indirectl derive motion frictionally from the under aspect of a frictional sheet forwarding device situated above the pile and formed and operating so as to advance the sheet toward or into the inway of the machine to be fed.A

The successive sheets directly derive motion frictionally from the under aspect of the sheet forwarding device in cases where the 'sheets are. desired to be seri-ally forwarded, z. e., innon-stepped sequence, but

in other cases the frictionally effected motion may be indirectly or partly indirectly and partly directly derived from the forwarding device, as in the case where it is desired to forward the sheets in stepped or lappedv sequence to apparatus in which'the to sheet `of the stepped sequence of sheets 1s first taken in and is thereby turned over for r rapid individual delivery or dropping on to a lmocking-up board, such as is shown, for example, in applicants copending application, Serial No. 873,597, filed November 23,1914. I

'lln this last mentioned case the upper sheets of a pile must be so successively freed and bodily iioated upwardly as to follow each other in lapped order into theinway of the machine being fed, the mutual resistance to relative motion which in the rst mentioned case is produced directly between the sheet and the forwarding device now being produced between the sheets themselves as well as between the sheets and the forwarding device. A

As an example; of a forwarding device which-will serve for the purposes of the present invention, the followmg may be mentioned, viz., a horizontally disposed series of parallel rollers situated above the sheetpile, these rollers being ranged, 'and being mounted and connected to revolve in the appropriate direction for frictiona'lly coperating with the sheets, to forward or direct these in thev desireddirection.

Alternatively an endless traveling belt or band or tape or like system may serve. These examples are nothowever to be regarded as in any way limiting the scope of the invention since the means by which it is carried into effect may vary: widely. But for the purposes ofthe following description of a convenient and advantageous way of carrying the present inventioneinto practice and which has' been found to work well the forwarding device consisting of the Vabove mentioned horizontally disposed series of rollers is chosen for reference.

A pile of sheets having been placed on the pile-board ofany machine into which the sheets are to be regularly and automatically fed in'stepped sequence as hereinabove deined, the following operations and their timing are produced and controlled by approprlate mechanism provided therefor.

Behind and near to the extremities of the back edge of the pile (this back edge being 'taken as that edge of the pile' most remote from the inway 'of the machine) are blowers which come into action and project currents of air into the back marginal portion of the upper part of the pile to loosen the sheets, particularly the back marginal portions of the upper sheets, and thereby facilitate the action of suction lifters which are situated above theback marginalportion of the 4pile and near or toward the extremities of the back edge of the pile. The blowers will ordinarily be adjustable in relation to the back edge of the pile, and when adjusted their position-may be fixed. Alternatively they may be made movable and connected to the driving mechanism of thev machine so as to have hunting action in relation to the back edge of the pile as by movement vertically upward and downwardor back and forth along the b-ac'k edge either ob'liquely thereto orparallel therewith, or both, or by orbital movement.

The air blast from the said blowers may be varied-to suit differentweights of paper and for this purpose provision 'may .be .made

-to afford a controlled adjustment of the air of lifting up the back of the upper sheet of the pile as they rise therefrom. This bearing on the pile has a further purpose in that the loosened back marginal portions of the upper sheets of the pile, or, as the pile eX- hausts itself of all the remaining sheets of the pile, are pressed back to normal level to present a level pile surface for the introduction of presser feet presently to be referred to, the pressure requisite for this purpose not being such as, and the pressure not being so as, tov count adverse to the invention by forming subversive adhesions.

The bearing of the `suction-lifters on the pile synchronizes more or less with the cutting off of the blowers: simultaneously suction action commences at'the nozzles of the suction-lifters. As conducing to a higher realization of the end or aim of the invention, the nozzle-mouths are arranged so as to draw the back marginal portion of the top sheet generally or locally to themselves by a bending away of such-portion from the pile so-as to, expose the corresponding back marginal portion of the neXt underlyingj sheet of the pile and so as to insure suckingl one sheet only at a time. In this connection,

. for a given resultant suction Apull, I have found by arranging the planes containing the boundaries of the nozzle-mouths to be more nearly paralleler less n'early parallel `to the plane ofthe sheet, and the nozzlemouths bodily less near or more near to the sheet respectively, I am able to accommodate the invention to different weightsof sheets, and speaking generally the heavier the stock the more nearly parallel will the said planes and the more near the sheet will the nozzle-mouths requireto be. Y

Hence the suction nozzles will usually be adjustable for angle and distance in relation to the plane of the sheets and this adjust ment may be made under the guidance of a graduated scale fitted to the appropriate part of the mechanism or it may be madeby trial in relation to any' ,given stock or by both methods, it being understood` that the suction nozzles have or are companion with presser feet for bearing on. the pile in the manner and for the purposes above mentioned.

Additionally or alternatively there maybe provision for varying the amount `of the vacuum to suit any given work.

Having caused the back marginal portion of the top sheet of the pile to adhere to their nozzles, the suction-lifters at the end of their dwell commence to rise, and in rising further expose the back portion of the next underlying sheet: simultaneously with or at or about the commencement of the rising stroke of the suction-lifters, presser feet as above mentioned move forward toward-the back edge of the pile and enter between the raised back marginal portion-of the top sheet and the pile and grip the latter to thereby hold this as a pile against d'isturbance.

Conveniently the presser feet forni blowers by which currents of air are projected under the raised top sheet to thereby fully free it from the pile and bodily ioat or bodily drive it upwardly by a rising air blast to the revolving rollers situated above the pile andl functioning to frictionally advance the sheet into the inway of the mechanism or into the inway of withdrawing or delivering means generally, the said further blowers conveniently or ordinarily continuing in action until the machine or other receiving means has taken the sheet into its control.

As in the case of the first mentioned blowers facilities may be provided to vary the air blastfromsaid further blowers to suit various weights of paper.

At or about the time the presser feet are effective on the pile, a secondary presser foot bearing on the to-p ofthe pile somewhat forward of the first mentioned presser feet is actuated to release the pilel and thereby leave the raised top,l sheet unhind'ered from being floated or air-driven upwardly as described.

Conveniently and advantageously this secondary'presser foot will be arranged to function as a feeler for the height of the pile and through the intermediary of suitable connections to control means functioning for the' automatic elevation of the pile board.

The drawings illustrate a constructional form under the invention.

Figure 1 is aside elevation of the machine.

Fig. 2 a view of the right hand portion of the suction, presser, and air blast devices looking from left to right of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the suction, presser,

' and air blast devices.

Fig 4 is a view of the'general driving gear for imparting motion to the various parts of the machine. n

Fig. 5 shows a sheet in the act of being raised from the pile, while,

Fig. 6 j is a diagrammatic view of the timing and controlling cams and their relation one to the other. j

In the machine illustrated it is to be understood that the suction, presser, and air blast devices are employed in duplicate and equiloo spaced from the center line ac--w Fig. 2, those to the left of w--m Fig. 2 not being shown.

The sheet forwardlng device in the machine illustrated comprises fa horizontall disposed series of parallel rollers 1- situatedl in side bearings 2 above the sheet pile, these rollers deriving motion from a mam driving shaft 3, by ,achain drive 4, 5 and 6, the drive bein in an appropriate direction as indicated by the arrow 7 in Fig. 4. The rollers 1 frictionally coperate with the sheets, to forward these in the desired direction to delivery apparatus 8, 9 for automatically and regularly feeding the sheets.

10 is an automatic rising pile board (shown in the raised position) on which the pile of sheets is placed. Behind and near to the extremities of the back edge of the pile, are blowers 11 in communication for eX- ample, by flexible hose with a stop cock `12 which in turn is connected through the hollow shaft 12a to a suitable blower not shown. A revolving shaft 13 driven from the shaft 3 by spur and bevel gearing 13", 13b, 13, has a timing cam 14. thereon for operating said stop cock through lever mechanism 15 loose on shaft 15a whereby the blowers 11 come 'into action at the appropriate time and project currents of air into the back margmal portion of the upper part of the pile to loosen the sheets, particularly the back marginal portions of the upperr sheets and thereby facilitate the action of the suction-lifters hereinafter referred to. .The blowers 11 are adjustable .(sce Fig. 3) in a bracket onshaft 17 in relatlon to the back edge o f the pile and when adjusted their position in the depicted case is xed. t

-During the aforesaid blowing or loosening or separatingaction, suction-lifters 16,

mounted at the `.oppositeA ends of a pipe 16 capable of angular adjustment in the forward end ofa pivoted arm 17 loose on shaft 17, move downward'under the action of a v timing and controlling cam 18 mounted on shaft 13 and connecting parts (pivoted lever 19, loose on shaft 15, and link 20), to bear with their presser feet 16n on the pile, and onv taking this bearing on the pile they are constrained to dwell somewhat in this position with the object aforesaid. The bearing of the suction-lifters 16 on the pile synchronizes more or less with the cutting off of the blowers 11: simultaneously suction action com-.- mences at the nozzles 16b of the suction-lifters 16. This suction action is effected by means of a stop cock 21 which is connected through the hollow pipe 12 to a suitable suction apparatus, not shown, and is operated through an opening lever 23 by a timed controlled cam 22 on the shaft 13. The nozzle mouths 16" are inclined so as to draw the back marginal portion of the top sheet generally or locally to themselves by a bending expose the corresponding back marginal portion of the next underlying sheet of the pile and so as to insure sucking one sheet only at a time. VThe suction nozzles 16" are arranged adjustable for angle and distance in relation to the plane ofthe sheets bypin and arcuate slot'24 and 24?" and. lug 24, and screwed connection 25 respectively.

, Having caused the back marginal portion .of the top sheet of the pile'to adhere to their nozzles, the suction lifters 16, 16, at the end of their dwell commence to rise by virtue of the timing cam 18 and in rising further ex-v arranged to be moved'therewith is a second similarly spring controlled pivoted llever 33 portion of the next 'underlying having a forked end engaging with a pin 34'on each gripper 26. The other end of said 'lever 33 isy under the control of a cam 35. on the axis 13, (cam 35 being shown as of enlarged diameter in Fig. 3 for clearness). These cams 35 are so timed to operate on the levers 33 that during the period of rest of the presser feet 26 in theirv forward position, the forked ends of said levers 33 swingl the presser feet 26 downwardly, to cause these to grip the pile for the purpose described. At the termination of the forward rest period the control cams 27 and 35 allow the levers 28 and 33 to withdraw the presser feet to normal position.

Each presser foot 26 in the example illustrated forms also a blower 29 by which currents of air are projected under the raised top sheet to thereby-,fully free it from the pile and float it upwardly to the revolving rollers l forming the frictional sheet for- `warding device. Said blowers 29 are in or ot er receiving means has taken the sheet into its control. The hollow shaft r12El is suitably partitioned to serve for both exhaust and pressure and levers 15, 23, and 31, also 19 swmg loosely on said shaft.

At or about the time the presser feet 26 are effective on the pile, secondary presser i feet 36 at the forward ends of arms 38 bearing on the top 'of the pile somewhat forward' i of the rst mentioned presser feet are each actuated by an appeitaining cam 37, this cam 37 rocking the shaft 33t through the y lever 13b fast therewitliaiid thereby raising the arm 38 and with it the presser 36 to release and clear the pile and leave the `raised top sheet unhindered from being ioated or air-driven upwardly as described.

These secondary presser feet 36 are arranged to further function as feelers for the height of-the pile and through the intermediary of suitable connections to control means functioning for the automatic elevation of the pile board 10. The connections .de icted are as follows the rock shaft 38a. This hammer arm 43 is arranged so that when the height of the pile has fallen below adjusted feeding level it strikes a counter-poise arm .39 having a locking shoulder 39a which normally engages a side projecting pin 51 of an arm 42 which is loose on the rock shaft 38a and carries a pawl 41 engaging a ratchet wheel 44. Thus the pawl lever 4 2is tripped and falls back up to a stop lug on a short arm 55 'which is fast with the rock shaft 38a. In doing this the pawl 41 passes back over one or more teeth of the ratchet wheel 44,

' and at the next actuation of the rock arm thereby rotated one or more teeth, While at' the end of thisA movement the counter-poise arm 39 rengages the pin 51.

, Through intermediate gearing 45 this rotation of the ratchet Wheel 44 is transmitted to a shaft 46 having toothed wheels 47 thereon engaging racks 48 on which the pileboard 10 is mounted and thus the height of the pile-board is automatically elevated.

Adjustment for spoiigy or hard piles, to keep the level of the top sheet correct in relation to the inway of the machine being fed, is made by raising-or lowering the screw-in stud 52. l

All the mechanism forming the machine as above described is so mounted on a bed plate 49 as t0 be bodily movable by rack and pinion mechanism 50 as'to accommodate the mechanism for various sizes of sheets in pile to loosen and separate the edges of All cam actuated and controlled parts may be spring returned or alternatively the cams may beof the internal type.

If` the cycle of operations be referred to angular displacements of the controlling axis 13, it may be stated, referring to Fig. 6, for appropriate mechanism provided for producing and timing the operations in relation'to one revolution of this axis, that the ,following timing gave good results 206g) Blowing against edge of pile 0 to (b) Suction 90 to 315.

(c) Suction-lifters rising at 240, returning 0.

(d) Back edge presser feet starting forward at 270, gripping pile at 315, releasing pile at 140.

v(e) Floating blast on at 270, off at 90.

(f) Secondary presser feet on at 125, off

rat 320.

Fig. 5 illustrated a pile of sheets placed on the pile board with the top sheet being acted upon by the nozzles of the suctionlifters. It will be observed the` nozzle mouths are so arranged as to draw the back marginal portion of the top sheet generally or locally to themselvesby a bending awayof such portion from the pile, so as to eX- pose the corresponding back marginal portion of the next underlying sheet of the pile and so as to insure sucking one sheet only at a time.

Facilities may be provided for varying the air blast from the said blowers to suit various weights of papers.

Or alternatively or in addition the height ofthe frictional forwarding device above the top of the pile is suitably arranged to be varied. A medium distance is about one inch.

What I claim is l1. In a machine of the character described, in combina-tion, a table adapted to receive.a

ile of sheets, pneumatic means operating upon the marginal portion of said pile to loosen and separate the edges of sheets thereon, suction means for engaging and raising the uppermost sheet of said pile in the proximity of said marginal portion, pneumatic means acting from the time of said engagement for raising the portion of said sheet' beyond said engaging portion and then completing the separation of said uppermost sheet from said rpile after said suction means has commenced its raising function and automatic mechanical means operative immediately under said raised sheet for retaining the remaining sheets of said pile in position thereon.

2. In' a machine of the character described, in combination, a feeding table adapted to receive a pile of sheets, pneumatic means operating upon the marginal portion of said sheets thereon, suction means for engaging and raising the uppermost sheet of said pile, and pneumatic. means for completing the separation of said uppermost sheet from said pile, said last-mentioned pneumatic means being combined with mechanical means operative to retain the remaining sheets of said pile in position thereon.

3. In a machine of the character described, in combination, a feeding table adapted to receive a pile of sheets, pneumatic means operating upon the marginal portion of said pile to loosen and separate the edges of sheets thereon, suction means for engaging and raising the uppermost sheet of said pile in the proximity of said marginal portion, conveying means presenting a substantially continuous moving surface, and pneumatic means at substantially the level of the top sheet and coming into operation with said suction means for completing the separation of said uppermost sheet from said pile and for bodilyl forcing and maintaining said heet inengagement with said moving surace.

L In a machine of the character described, in combination, a feeding table for receiving a pile of sheets, a nozzle adapted to direct an air blast against the upper marginal portion of said pile, thereby to loosen and sepparate the edges of the sheets thereon, a suction nozzle for-engaging and raising the uppermost sheet from said pile, primary presser feet adapted to engage said pile immediately underneath said raised uppermost sheet to retain the remaining sheets of said pile in position thereon, an additional nozzle for directing an air blast when the suction nozzle commences engaging the pile to completely remove said uppermost sheet from said pile substantially during the operation of said primary presser feet, and secondarypresser feet adapted to engage said pile initially to maintain the latter intact during at least a portion of the operation of said firstmentioned nozzle.

5. In a machine of the character described, in combinatioma feeding table adapted to receive a pile of sheets, pneumatic means operating upon the marginal portion of said pile to loosen and separate the edges of sheets thereon, suction means for engaging and raising the uppermost sheet of said pile, conveying meanspresenting a downwardly facing and substantially continuous moving surface, and pneumatic means for directing a blast of air underneath said raised sheet to force the latter bodily `upwardly and maintain it in engagement with said moving surface. v

6. In apparatus of the character described,

v in combination, a pile-of sheets, a blower for separating the marginal edges of the top sheets thereof, a suction means engaging said pile back of said marginal edges for raising the top sheet, a second blower, means for interposing the same between the separated marginal edges of the top sheet and the rest of said pile, and to one side of said suction means whereby said second blower will assist said suction means in overcoming the cohesion between said top sheet and those below it.

7. In a machine of the character described, in combination, a" pile board for receiving a pile of sheets, a suction nozzle adapted to descend upon said pile and to dwell thereon to engage and raise the uppermost sheet from said pile, .primary presser feet adapted to engage said pile immediately underneath said raised sheet to retain the remaining sheets in position, each of said primary presser feet having combined and integral therewith a'nozzle for directing an air blast underneath said raised sheet to remove said uppermost sheet from said pile, and secondary presser feet for engaging' said pile substantially previous to the operation of said suction nozzle to retain said pile intact.

8. In a machine of the character described, in combination, a pile board for receiving a pile of sheets, a suction nozzle for engaging and raising the uppermost sheet from said pile, presser feet for engaging said pile immediately underneath said uppermost raised sheet to retain said pile intact, conveying means presenting a downwardly facing substantially continuous moving surface, each of said presser feet having combined and integral therewith a nozzle for directing an means presenting a downwardly facing substantially continuous moving surface, and a nozzle for directing an air-blastunderneath said raised sheet thereby to bodily force and maintain said sheet in" engagement with said moving surface.

In testimony whereof, I aiiix my signature.

JOHN PAXTON PETTY.V 

